


Father's Day

by MistressofFluff (Eravalefantasy), Sangosweetz



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, papa alistair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 22:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11114328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eravalefantasy/pseuds/MistressofFluff, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sangosweetz/pseuds/Sangosweetz
Summary: For the Caboodling with Alistair Father's day event. A collaboration of art and a short fic about King Alistair and his nine-year old daughter, Kenna.





	Father's Day

**Author's Note:**

> This was the result of a collaboration with sangosweetz! Check out her fantastic art at sangosweetz.tumblr.com

 

<https://sangosweetz.tumblr.com/post/161518298618/alistair-and-daughter-kenna-he-always-knows-just>

 

 

Every day Alistair set aside time to hear the concerns of Fereldans who traveled seeking the king’s guidance. The queen never intruded on his time with the people, knowing Alistair would share all he heard in the privacy of their rooms.

Trista waited until the last requestor departed before approaching her husband. The attendants cleared the room seeing the queen’s approach; she hesitated, his fatigue evident in the slight drop of his head and a controlled sigh. Knowing her concern could not wait, Trista spoke as she walked. “If I might have a moment, Your Majesty?”

A soft smile covered his exhausted. “Your desire is my command, my love.”

“It’s Kenna,” she said. At the mention of their daughter, Alistair almost toppled the chair in his haste.

“Where?” He looked to the various doors searching for his child.

Trista reached for his hand. “She needs you.”

Alistair asked questions with every few steps as his wife led him through the corridors to their rooms. Trista explained Kenna had returned from her lessons in tears and refused to speak with anyone but her father. Stopping at their daughter’s room door, Trista kissed Alistair’s cheek. “I’ll be right here, if you need me.”

He knocked; hearing no answer, Alistair entered the room. Kenna lay face down in her pillows, her shoulders shook as she sobbed.

Careful not to startle his daughter, Alistair called to her. “Kenna?” Taking a few more tentative steps, Alistair spoke to her again, careful to trim all authority from his voice.

She mumbled into her pillow, Alistair unable to decipher the words. The ache of seeing her distraught compelled Alistair to her bedside, he sat with care next to Kenna.

Rubbing her back gently, Alistair tried again. “Talk to me, Petal.”  Rose Petal, his private name for her released Kenna from her sorrow long enough to face him. Her hair, tied back with a ribbon, gave Alistair another opportunity to lighten her mood. A gentle tug on the gathered hair preceded another prompt for her to talk.

Kenna’s face had mottled with red from her emotions, her face slick from tears. “Do you think I’m pretty?”

At nine, Kenna had never questioned her appearance before and Alistair wondered what changed. “Of course. You’re beautiful, Kenna.”

Her lip quivered and eyes welled again. “But you have to say that, you’re my father!” And once more Kenna buried her face in the pillows to cry.

Hearing her sob troubled him, but seeing her pained was more than he could bear. Not willing to let the sorrow afflict her any longer, Alistair had to fix whatever had happened. “Kenna, I don’t have to say anything. I believe it and I can prove it to you.”

She turned her head, sniffling. “How?”

Alistair tilted his head to meet her peeking eye. “You’ll have to talk with me to find out.”

She wiped her face with her hand, clearing the stray strands of hair from her face. The color so like his, but looking into her saddened green eyes, his heart hurt. “The boys said I wasn’t pretty like mother.”

“Which boys said such a thing?” His brow furrowed and the need to protect and defend his daughter threatened to bring a scowl to his face. Realizing his reaction would do little for Kenna, Alistair shifted his focus. “Let me tell you why those boys are wrong.”

He stood, reaching out both hands to her. Kenna hesitated, but Alistair’s insistence convinced her to place her hands in his. Pulling her to her feet, Alistair bent to touch his forehead to hers. “Listen well, Petal. You are the very best parts of me and the very best parts of your mother.” He pressed a soft kiss against her forehead before continuing. “That means you are loving, kind, gentle, thoughtful, terribly intelligent,” Alistair grinned as Kenna giggled through her tears, “and so very beautiful.” He pointed to her chest. “Inside and out. No one, other than your mother, will ever hold my heart as you do.”

Another kiss on her forehead sealed his words. “I love you, Rose Petal .”

She laughed, the tears continuing to fall. Alistair straightened, shaking his head. He’d grown used to laughter through tears after years of marriage to Trista. “That, I’m afraid you get from your mother,” he said, a teasing lilt to his voice.


End file.
